Ladder support



Feb. 19,1935; N. LAR EN 1 991,900

LADDER SUPPORT Filed July 29, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 QEnven 0 1. NEIL RLARSEN Feb. 19, 1935. N. P. LARSEQ LADDER SUPPORT' Filed July 29,1932

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 LZ'UCIZ (o r. NE/L I? LARSEN. zzamv W Patented Feb. 19,1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LADDER SUPPORT Application July 29,1932, Serial No. 625,811

10 Claims. (01. 224-29) This invention relates to a ladder supportingdevice and is adapted to be attached to a motor l rattling or accidentaldisengagement.

With the objects above indicated and other objects hereinafter explainedin view, the invention consists in the construction and combination ofelements hereinafter described and claimed.

20 Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a ladder supporting deviceembodying the present invention and attached to the side of a motorvehicle;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of a ladder sup- 25 porting deviceembodying the present invention, but adapted to support the ladder in amodified manner;

Fig. 3 is a rear view of that shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a rear view of the ladder supporting 30 device shown in Fig.3, but on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 5 is a rear view of that shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a detail view of one of the upright members and connectiontherefor shown in Fig. 1;

35 Fig. 7 is a side view of a modified connection shown in Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a side elevational view of that shown in Fig. 6;

Fig. 9 is a detail view of a modified form of 40 locking means for theladder supporting device shown in Fig. 2.

In the drawings, 10 indicates a motor vehicle of therepair or servicetype employed by the utilities companies and has a compartment 11mounted upon the'chassis and closed by means of doors 12 pivotallyconnected at their outer edges to the adjacent walls of the compartment.

On one side of the motor vehicle 10, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, aplurality of upright members 50 13 are slidably mounted in brackets 14.The brackets 14 for the rear upright member are secured to the side ofthe compartmentll, while the brackets 14 for the intermediate uprightmember 13 are secured to the forward end of '55 the compartment 11. Theforward upright member 13 has its upper end connected by a bracket 15 tothe upper hinge member of the door of the motor vehicle, while the lowerend is pivotally connected with a bracket 16 secured to the fender orrunning board, as may be desired. It will be noted, therefore, thatthese upright members 13 are spaced apart and extend in parallelrelation.

A plurality of outwardly extending members 17 are slidably andadjustably mounted on said upright members 13 and are adapted to besecured in adjusted position by lock bolts 18. One member 17 is providedfor each upright member 13 and said members are preferably disposed inhorizontal alignment.

The intermediate upright member 13 has an outwardly extending member 19similar to the member 17 which is detachably secured to a union 20mounted upon the upper end of the upright member 13, as more clearlyshown in Fig. 4.

Slidably mounted on the outwardly extending members 1'7 and 19 areladder engaging members 21 secured in any desired position by lock bolts22 and having upwardly extending arms 23 be-. tween which the runners ofa ladder 24 are maintained. Tubular sleeves 25, preferably of rubber,surround the extending members 17 and 19 and extend between the ladderengaging members 21.

The runners of the ladders 24 are adapted to be nested in overlappingrelation, as shown in Fig. 4, with portions of the runners resting uponthe sleeve 25 and the arms 23 in engagement with the adjacent edges ofthe runners of the ladder. These ladder engaging members 21 areadjustable relatively so as to position the arms 23 in close proximityto the runners of the ladder while the extending members 17 arevertically adjustable upon the'upright members 13 to receive the lowerrunner of the ladder at the proper location when the upper runner of theladder is resting upon the extending member 19.

As the ladders have a tendency to rattle and become disengaged fromtheir support, a suitable retaining means is provided. -This preferablyconsists of a. tubular member 25' closed at one end and open at theother and secured in a horizontal transverse position by a bracket 26 atthe closed end which is attached to the forward end of the compartment11 while the open end is screwthreaded and cooperates with ascrewthreaded opening in the union 20. The union is provided with anopening '27 communicating with the interiorof the tube 25' and receivestherein a rod 28. The inner end of the rod 28 is screwthreaded toreceive a nut 29 against one side of which abuts the end of a coilspring 30 surrounding the rod within the tube 25'. The opposite end ofthe spring abuts the inner end of a sleeve 31 secured within the tube25' and normally tends to force the nut 29 rearwardly within the tube,thus exerting a force upon the rod 28 in the same direction. The outerend of the rod 28 is formed with a hook 32 adapted to engage the rungsof the ladder, as shown in Fig. 4. This hook may be disengaged from therungs or engaged therewith by rotating the hook about the longitudinalaxis of the rod to the position desired for accomplishing the purposeintended.

In Figs. 2, 5 and 9 a modification of the invention is illustrated, andconsists of a pair of upright members 33 secured to the rear portion ofthe compartment 11 by brackets 34 which are attached to the sides of thecompartment adjacent the rear end thereof. These upright members arevertically adjustable and secured in any adjusted position by means oflock bolts 35. At the forward end, the upright members 36 extend onopposite sides of the motor vehicle and are pivotally connected at theirlower ends to brackets 3'7 secured to the running board or fender, asmay be desired. Adjacent the upper portion of the upright members 36 arebrackets 38 which are slidably and adjustably mounted upon the uprights36 and are pivotally connected to the upper hinges of the doors at 39.The upright members 33 and 36 extend in parallelism and in longitudinalalignment on opposite sides of the motor vehicle, as clearly shown inFigs. 2 and 5.

Transversely extending members 40 have their opposite ends adjustablymounted upon the upper ends of the upright members 33 and 36respectively, as indicated at 41, and are held in adjusted position bymeans of lock bolts 42. These transversely extending members 40 areadapted to support the ladder sections, only one of which is shown inFig. 5, and the ladders are positioned centrally or in any desiredposition thereon by means of upwardly extending arms 43 slidably mountedupon the transverse members 40 and secured in any adjusted position bylock bolts 44. The upwardly extending arms 43 are adjustable relativelyalong the transverse members 40 so as to receive ladders of varyingwidths and one of the upright arms 43 is provided with a spring resistedpin 45 which engages with an opening provided in the rimner of theladder adjacent thereto, details of which are more clearly shown in Fig.9. This securing means prevents accidental displacement of the laddersas well as preventing the ladders from undue rattling.

It will be noted that the transversely extending members 40 are alsovertically adjustable upon the upright members 33 and 36 so that theladders may be supported above any interfering portion of the motorvehicle.

While I have described the preferred embodiments of the invention, it isto be understood that I am not to be limited thereto inasmuch as changesand modifications may be resorted to without departing from the spiritof the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A ladder supporting device comprising a plurality of spaced members,supporting members adjustably mounted on said spaced members andextending laterally therefrom, some of said supporting members beingengageable with the one side of the ladder and other of said supportingmembers being engageable with the other side of the ladder, ladderengaging members adjustably mounted on said supporting members, andmeans under tension mounted on one of said spaced members and engageablewith the ladder.

2. A ladder supporting device comprising a plurality of spaced members,supporting members adjustably mounted on said spaced members andextending laterally therefrom, some of said supporting members beingengageable with the one side of the ladder and other of said supportingmembers being engageable with the other side of the ladder, ladderengaging means adjustably mounted on said supporting members, andreleasable means under tension mounted on one of said spaced members andengageable with the ladder.

3. A ladder supporting device comprising a plu-,

rality of spaced upright members, lateral extensions adjustably mountedon said spaced members, and ladder receiving means adjustably mounted onsaid extensions.

4. A ladder supporting device comprising a plurality of spaced uprightmembers, lateral extensions adjustably mounted on said spaced members,and ladder receiving members adjustably mounted on said extensions.

5. A ladder supporting device comprising a plurality of spaced uprightmembers, lateral extensions adjustably mounted on said spaced members,and ladder receiving members adjustably mounted on said extensions, someof said members being engageable with one side of said ladder and otherof said members being engageable with the other side of said ladder.

6. A ladder supporting device comprising a plurality of spaced uprightmembers, lateral extensions adjustably mounted on said spaced members,and ladder engaging members mounted for relative adjustment on saidextensions.

7. A ladder supporting device for vehicles comprising upright memberssecured in spaced relation longitudinally on one side 01 the vehicle, aladder supporting member secured to the one of said upright members andextending outwardly therefrom, said member being adapted to engage oneside of a ladder, and other ladder supporting members slidably mountedon said upright members and adjustable with respect to said firstmentioned ladder supporting member, said other ladder supporting membersbeing adapted to engage the opposite side oi! the ladder.

8. A ladder supporting device for vehicles comprising upright memberssecured in spaced relation longitudinally on one side of the vehicle, aladder supporting membersecured to the one of said upright members andextending outwardly therefrom, said member being adapted to engage oneside of a ladder, other ladder supporting members slidably mounted onsaid upright members and adjustable with respect to said first mentionedladder supporting member, said other ladder supporting members beingadapted to engage the opposite side of the ladder, and a releasablesecuring means mounted on one oi! said upright members and engageablewith the ladder to maintain the latter against accidental disengagement.

9. A ladder supporting device for vehicles comprising upright memberssecured in spaced relation longitudinally on one side of the vehicle, alaterally extending member secured to the upper portion of one of saiduprights, laterally extending members adjustably mounted on the lowerportions of said upright members, ladder engaging members mounted onsaid laterally extending members and having upwardly extending spacedarms between which the ladder is adapted to be disposed, and releasablesecuring means mounted on one of said uprights and engageable with theladder to maintain the latter against accidental displacement. a

10. A ladder supporting device for vehicles comprising upright memberssecured in spaced relation longitudinally on one side of the vehicle, alaterally extending member secured to the upper portion of one of saiduprights, laterally extending 'members adjustably mounted on the lowerportions of said upright members, ladder engaging members mounted onsaid laterally extending members and having upwardly extending spacedarms movable relatively toward and away from each other between whichthe ladder is adapted to be disposed, and releasable securing meansmounted on one of vsaid uprights and engageable with the ladder tomaintain the latter against accidental displacement. 4

7 NEIL P. LARSEN.

